New Investigation Shows A US Journalist Critical Of The Saudi Government Was Hit With NSO Spyware
from the truly-an-unsurprising-development dept
Malware merchant NSO Group's year of embarrassment continues. Leaked data published in July appeared to show NSO malware (namely its phone-hijacking malware Pegasus) had been used to target dissidents, journalists, religious leaders, and prominent politicians.
NSO reacted by first claiming the data showed nothing of the sort or at least was unrelated to its malware and its customers. Then it made contradictory claims, saying it terminated contracts when it discovered abuse of its products and that it had no visibility into its customers' actions. Puzzling.
Then things somehow got worse. Countries accused of using NSO Group malware to target critics and journalists decided to sue critics and journalists. Israel's government opened an investigation into the Israeli company. Another investigation found the government of Bahrain was engaging in exactly the kind of abuse NSO claimed it didn't allow. And, thanks to some pretty ugly divorce proceedings, it came to light that the Dubai's king had used the malware to spy on his ex-wife and her lawyer.
The debacle continues. An investigation by Citizen Lab -- which has uncovered previous misuse of NSO's software -- reveals an American journalist was targeted multiple times by NSO's hacking tools.
New York Times journalist Ben Hubbard was repeatedly targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware over a three-year period from June 2018 to June 2021. The targeting took place while he was reporting on Saudi Arabia, and writing a book about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The investigators aren't sure who targeted Hubbard, but they do note that complaining to NSO about being targeted in violation of the company's guidelines has zero deterrent effect on future targeting.
The targeting resulted in Pegasus infections in July 2020 and June 2021. Notably, these infections occurred after Hubbard complained to NSO Group that he was targeted by the Saudi-linked KINGDOM Pegasus operator in June 2018.
While it would seem the most likely suspect is the Saudi government (or perhaps the prince himself, given what we now know about individual misuse of NSO spyware), Citizen Lab doesn't have enough information to definitively say who's behind the second round of targeting. And, given government/government officials' willingness to sue journalists over accusations of spying, Citizen Lab is wise to play it safe when it comes to attribution.
The in-depth report is worth reading, detailing how Citizen Lab arrived at these conclusions, as well as noting the similarities between these attacks (which utilized both malicious links and zero-click exploits) and ones observed targeting a Saudi activist earlier this year. And it shows NSO is still months away from being able to put this in the rearview mirror. A change of culture is needed at NSO and it needs to cancel all contracts with countries whose governments whose abuses of human rights and hacking tools have already been the subject of years of reporting.
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Filed Under: ben hubbard, malware, pegasus, spyware, surveillance
Companies: citizen lab, nso
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Rotten
When it comes to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmon, something is definitely fishy.
Too bad the US government is so far up the Saudi's ass, they haven't done anything about the killing of Kashoggi.
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Whatever happened to trust but verify?
So far every single one of NSO's claims have been lies & debunked.
It really shouldn't take it coming out that someone used NSO to target Bebe, before they decide perhaps they need a closer look at whats happening over there.
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Government abuse of malware...
"We refuse to have as a client any government that wants to use our products."
-- Malware by Marx, est 1949
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A change of culture is needed at NSO
A change not unlike the Late Bronze Age Collapse, one might think.
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At what point...
Does NSO group become listed as a terrorist organization?
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Re: At what point...
At the same point NSO Group stops letting corrupt governments / corrupt government officials use their malware.
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'Are they still paying us? Yes? Then what's the problem?'
And it shows NSO is still months away from being able to put this in the rearview mirror. A change of culture is needed at NSO and it needs to cancel all contracts with countries whose governments whose abuses of human rights and hacking tools have already been the subject of years of reporting.
Objection, premise assumes that the company actually cares about what it's product is being used for beyond how it might look for them when those actions come to light.
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Re: At what point...
As Upstream noted when it ceases to be useful to a sufficient number of powerful governments, politicians and private individuals and not a second sooner.
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there's no puzzle
There is no contradiction between NSO's claim that it has no visibility into its clients' use of its product and its claim that it terminates contracts when it discovers abuse. It is entirely possible that in the course of normal operations they do not see what their clients are doing but that, if third parties disclose credible evidence of abuse, NSO terminates the contract.
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Re: there's no puzzle
Do they? Doesn't look like it.
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